Immigration Bureau
exceeds one billion peso mark in tourist visa fees
MANILA, Dec. 20 -- Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Siegfred
Mison announced on Monday that the BI has exceeded the one billion peso mark
in its income for tourist visa extension fees—a milestone reached for the
first time this month.

As of yesterday, the total income of the tourist visa section amounted to
P1,051,458,049.00, an increase of 7.4% from its 2014 income.

“While the BI is not mainly an income-generating agency, we commend our
tourist visa section chief, Jonathan Jezreel Diaz, for this remarkable
accomplishment. This affirms our commitment to contribute to national
development.” said Mison.

Tourist visas, or temporary visitor’s visas, as technically termed by the
Philippine Immigration Act, are issued to foreign nationals who are staying
in the country for pleasure, business, or health. Holders of such visas are
not allowed to work or study.

This year, the BI processed 142,336 applications for tourist visa extension,
35% of which are made up of Chinese, followed by Koreans, with 25,296
applications, and Americans, with 12,099 applications.

Income on tourist visas account for one-third of the total income of the BI,
the remaining two-thirds are comprised of income from other types of visas
and a small portion for processing of certifications.

In 2014, the tourist visa section collected P971 million in visa extension
fees, or 32% of the total BI income of P3.022 billion.

“We are positive that we will reach our target income of P3.26 billion at
the end of the year, our highest income on record,” said Mison with
enthusiasm. (BI)